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Updated: Nov 2, 2025

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
A mechanism for ageing in a deeply supercooled molecular glass
Andrew Cassidy1, Mads R V Jørgensen2, Artur Glavic3
1Center for Interstellar Catalysis and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 120, Aarhus C, Denmark. amc@phys.au.dk.
Abstract:
Measurements of the decay of electric fields, formed spontaneously within vapour-deposited films of cis-methyl formate, provide the first direct assessment of the energy barrier to secondary relaxation in a molecular glass. At temperatures far below the glass transition temperature, the mechanism of relaxation is shown to be through hindered molecular rotation. Magnetically-polarised neutron scattering experiments exclude diffusion, which is demonstrated to take place only close to the glass transition temperature.
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